Pin setting machine with impact resistant resilient chutes



Feb. 1, 1966 L. E. FOSSBERG 3,232,611

PIN SETTING MACHINE WITH IMPACT RESISTANT RESILIENT CHUTES Filed Feb. 21. 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VEN TOR.

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A 7T0P/VEY Feb. 1, 1966 L. E. FOSSBERG 3,232,611

PIN SETTING MACHINE WITH IMPACT RESISTANT RESILIE'NT CHUTES Filed Feb. 21. 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR. 1 01/0 L. fZJsbe/y United States Patent 3,232,611 PIN SETTING MACHINE WHTH IMPACT RESISTANT REslLlENT CHUTES Louis E. Fossherg, 16319 Nicholas Ave., Shaker Heights, Ohio Filed Feb. 21, 1962, Ser. No. 174,769 4 Claims. (Cl. 273-42) This invention relates to bowling pin setting apparatus, more particularly to such apparatus having impact and abrasion resistant resilient chutes capable of absorbing the shocks and dissipating the energy of intercepted and deflected pins.

In a typical bowling pin setting apparatus of conventional construction a plurality of tubular chutes or boots are provided, normally ten in number one for each of the pins in a set; these chutes are molded of rubber or similar resilient flexible material and areada-pted to receive the bowling pins as from a turret and other distributing components of the pin setting machine and to direct the pins to proper locations for final placement upon further operation of the mechanism.

It has been found that due to the customary arrangement of the chutes in the form of an equilateral triangle, those chutes located at the three apex positions receive the moving pins obliquely, each with a considerable horizontal component in the impact force directed against the outer side wall of the apex or corner chute. This arrangement causes the angular edges of the pin bases to strike the walls of the said three apex chutes obliquely and at practically the same spot of each chute at each delivery, resulting in deterioration at a rapid rate and often in rupture of the chute wall. This can result in jamming of the pins in the chutes, causing the machine to become inoperative due to faulty performance. The present invention provides a modified chute construction which alleviates the troubles referred to.

In its broader aspects the aim of the present invention is to provide means for prolonging the useful life of pin handling machines, particularly with respect to deterioration of the pin guiding chutes of such machines caused by the impacts of pins being distributed to the chutes.

A more particular object of the invention is to provide an improved pin setting machine of the type having chute structures for receiving and locating pins in which the chute structures or some of them each comprises in combination a generally upright tubular chute member of resilient deformable rubber-like material and an impact element or shield of relatively thin stiff abrasion resistant material wholly supported by the chute member, the impact element being disposed to intercept and deflect the butt end of a pin fed into the chute structure and to distribute the energy of an intercepted pin over a relatively large area of the rubber wall of the chute member.

Another object of the invention is to provide a pin receiving chute construction in which a resilient deformable rubber boot and a metal shield or liner plate are associated in combination and with means for quickly and easily assembling the parts and holding the liner plate or shield in its desired location relative to the rubber boot.

A more general object is to reduce wear and damage to the pins.

The objects of the invention and the invention itself will be more clearly apparent from a consideration of the following description and drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a partially diagrammatic front perspective view with parts removed of a portion of a typical automatic pin setting machine having the improved 3,232,611 Patented Feb. 1, 1966 chute construction of the present invention with the deck of the machine in raised position, the machine being shown over an alley bed with a set of pins positioned thereon;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view from above and to one side and with parts removed of the pin setting machine of FIG. 1 showing the tubular pin chute devices of the present invention mounted on the triangular deck structure at the three corner or apex positions;

FIG. 3 is a top view of one of the corner chute devices showing it removed from the deck of the pin setting machine, this view being enlarged relative to the preceding figures;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken substantially in the plane represented by the line 44 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the liner or shield part showing to advantage the bendable mounting straps;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 showing a modification wherein formed spring clips are used in lieu of bendable mounting straps;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing a modification wherein the entire shield, including the mounting straps, is made in one piece and wherein the sides of the shield are tapered to permit economical manufacture by reducing waste in stamping ou't theblanks fromsheet stock; and

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the liner made from the one piece blank illustrated in FIG. 7. p

Referring now to the drawings and particularly to P16. 1, which shows a front view as seen by the bowler of parts of a typical automatic pin setting machine, or pin setter pertinent to the present invention. The machine comprises, in this instance, a movable deck structure which includes three horizontal and generally parallel deck frames. Deck frame A is located intermediate deck frames B and C with the deck frame B above and the deck frame C below the deck frame .A. The frame A is a vertically movable carrier and supports a set of pins 11 while they are carried from an upper to a lower .position adjacent and for final placement in their proper locations on alley bed 10. The deck frames A, B and C are carried in suspended relation above the pin setting area of bowling alley bed 10 by a fixed frame structure which includes upright members 13. A conventional slide bar or swinging arm arrangement is used for suspending the frames, the frame structure and collateral parts of the pin setter being largely omitted from the drawing. Vertical actuation and support of the deck structure is provided by a pair of spaced parallel vertically disposed steel tubes 5, 6 which are moved up and down by the operating mechanism of the setter; these tubes are fast at their lower ends to the deck frame A and are suitably constrained to the vertical to keep the deck structure horizontal throughout its movement. The alley bed 10 is delineated by the usual parallel side gutters 3, 4 and the pin setting area of the bed is enclosed on three sides by the usual side guards or walls 1, 2 and a rear pit cushion or wall, not shown. The general structure, arrangement and operation of the pin setter are conventional and are only shown and described to the extent necessary to an understanding of the present invention which constitutes an improvement on known pin setting mechanisms.

The carrier frame A has means such as cross bars upon which the bowling pins 11 are adapted to rest when the frame is away from the alley bed 10. Means is provided to move the pins forwardly relative to and off the cross bars and onto the alley pin spots when the deckv structure is in its lowermost position adjacent the alley bed.

grasp standing pins so they can be lifted in unison from the alley bed by the deck structure to permit the sweeping away of fallen pins (by mechanism not shown) after the rolling of the first ball. Prior to the rolling of the next or second ball, deck structure is lowered and the grasping devices of the deck C are actuated to release the pins which are thus'replaced exactly as positioned prior to removal,

The chute frame B has ten tubular pin chutes mounted thereon in spaced relation and in the form of an equilateral trjianglef they are designated D1, D2, D3, D4, D5,D,.6,'D7 D8,, D9 and D10, the arabic numerals corresponding 'to the bowling pins received by the respective'chutes. These chutes are adapted to receive pins from a pin distributing turret' 8 of conventional construction, having withdr'awable pin supporting spoons 9:, and to direct them downwardly onto the deck frame A. Because'the'distances "from-the vertical rotational axis of the turret 8 to each of the vertical axes of the sockets or openings into which the corner apex chutes D1, D7 and D10 feed the corner pins are greater than the distances from the turret axis to thevertical axes of the sockets into which the other chutes D2 'D6, D8 and D), feed the respective pins, the pins'distributed to the apex chutes are fed from the turret 8 along paths which are longer in their horizontal components than the paths of the pins distributed to the other chutes. Thus the corner apex chutes D1, D7 and D16 are each formed with a sloping wall 12 inclined toward the axis of turret 8. Pins released by the spoons 9 of the turret 8 to the apex chutes D1, D7 and D10 drop into engagement with the inclined chute Walls 12 and are deflected by the latter towardthere's pective sockets of the apex chutes. Thus the pins delivered to the three apex chutes D1, D7 and D10 each has a greater horizontal component of momentum or energy than the pins delivered to the other seven chutes. The momentum and the angle of delivery causes the sharp edges of the pin bases to strike with considerable force the innerface's of the chute" walls which are opposite the inclined walls 12. The force of the impact, coupled with the fact that the inclined troughlike wall 12 tends to guide the pins so that successive pins strike substantially the same small area of the opposite wall makesit desirable to protect the chute wall against damage and deterioration, the chute being molded or otherwise formed of resilient flexible material such as natural or synthetic rubber or a rubbery polymer of suitable shape retaining and impact resisting characteristics. To protect the chutes from damage by the above described pin delivery a liner or shield 14 is mounted inside each of the corner or apex chutes D1, D7'and D10 as shown to advantage in FIGS. 3 and 4 in which-the chute is designated generally by the letter D. The shield 14 is formed of stiff, tough, resilient, impact and abrasion resistant material such as sheet metal, cold rolled steel of about 16' gage to about 22 gage being satisfactory. Other suitable materials are resin sheets, preferably reinforced with glass fibers or with wire mesh. The shield is made from a generally rectangular blank which is arcuately bent and shaped complementally to the inside surface of chute wall 15 against which it is disposed so as to be and remain in intimate contact with the chute wall throughout the area of the shield. In the arrangement shown, the chute Wall 15, which is opposite the inclined trough wall 12 and in the absence of the shield 14 would receive directly the impacts of pins fed into the chute, is cylindrically curved and thus the shield 14 is also cylindrically curved to fit snugly and conformatively against the chute wall. This arrangement distributes the force of the pin impact over a relatively large area of the resilient rubbery chute wall to dissipate the energy of the traveling pin without excessive localized distortion of the'chute wall.

It is desirable that there be some yielding of the chute Wall underpin impact for the purpose of absorbing the energy of the traveling pin without damage to the machine or to the edge corner of the pin. In the present invention the shield element 14 is wholly supported by the chute D, there b'eing'no connection between the shield and the deck frame or other part of the machine other than the resilient rubbery body of the chute. Moreover, the shield 14 extends over but a minor portion of the internal wall surface of the chute, leaving the major portion of the chute wall exposed for direct engagement by a pin moving into position. For example, in the case of a chute having a wall of arcuate curvature as shown in FIG. 3 it is preferable that the shield have an extent horizontally of more than about 30 degrees and less than about 180 degrees, an extent of about 120 degrees being satisfactory.

The shield 14 is co-extensive in height with the chute wall against which it is nested to insure covering of all chute wall areas subject to pin impact. However, it"- may be made somewhat shorter in height for use in arrangements wherein pin impact is restricted to a ztirie having upper and lower limitswithin the profile of suchr shield of shorter height.

A pair of mounting elements or straps 16 of plain cold rolled steel are attached by rivets 17,"'or other suitable means, to the shield 14 adjacent top edge 18 and side edges 19 of the latter. The'mounti'ng straps 16 are formed with reverse bends 20 which hook over top edge 21 of the chute D, the straps extending down the outside of the chute wall about one third the height of the chute and of the shield 14 and being overformed to bear firmly against the outer face of the chute D, thereby holding the shield device 14 securely in desired protective position. Thus the direct impact and concentrated blow of the pin base against the chute wall is eliminated, damage to the chute is minimized, the force of the impact being distributed over a large area of the resilient chute wall. Thus the required functional life of the chute is greatly extended. Maintenance and service costs are materially reduced.

Referring now to FIG. 6, I have shown a modification of the shield illustrated in the preceding figures in which formed spring clips 24 of steel or other resilient spring material are used for mounting means instead of the? straps 16. Each clip is formed with a reverse bend providing long and short legs, the former being secured to the shield body 14 as by the rivet 17 the same as the corresponding strap 16 previously described. The spring clips 24 facilitate assembly and disassembly of the shields with and from the chute in servicing and repairing the I pin setter.

Another modified form of shield device and a method of manufacturing it are shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. By tapering opposite side edges 25 toward bottom edge 26 the width of the latter is reduced relative to top edge 27 and divergent mounting straps'28 are formed inte grally with body 29 of'the shield D, eliminating the rivets 17 and the riveting operation previously mentioned. The tapering of theshield body 29 permits the body with the integral straps 28 to be stamped'or cut out of a continuous sheet metal strip with minimum waste, the operation being diagrammatically shown in FIG. 7 wherein flat body blank 2% of one shield, shown in full lines, is interfit ted with and between'flat body blanks 29b and 29c shown in broken lines. Other strips similar to the strip 2%, 29a, 25 can be cut economically from a common sheet, adjacent strips alternating in direction. Aft r the cutting, stamping and blanking operations, the individual blanks are bent to the desired or arcuate shape and reverse bends 31 are formed in the straps 28 so that the latter extend downarid in overlying relation to the body portion 29.

The straps or clips are in each instance long enough to hold the full length of the shieldagainst and in contact with the wall of the chute; thus the flexible chute wall, by a dampening action on vibration, mull-l es vibrations and sounds produced when the pin entering the chute contacts the shield. v

For further muffiing and mounting advantages the adjacent surfaces of chute and shield may be bonded together by application of a suitable metal to rubber or type 1 bonding material, thus providing and maintaining intimate surface contact.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, the principles of the present invention may be utilized in various ways, numerous modifications and alterations being contemplated, substitution of parts and changes in construction being resorted to as desired, it being understood that the embodiments shown in the drawing and illustrated above are given merely for purposes of explanation and illustration without intending to limit the scope of the claims to the specific details disclosed.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a pin-handling machine of the type having a supporting frame,

a generally horizontal deck structure carried by the frame, the frame being adapted to support the deck structure above the rear end of a bowling alley bed,

a plurality of generally tubular chutes having open top and bottom ends,

said chutes being mounted on said deck structure,

means carried by the supporting frame and adapted to feed pins to advance endwise to the upper ends of the chutes along predetermined separated paths,

the chutes being disposed in horizontally spaced relation to one another to receive advancing pins individua'lly and each having a generally upright axis oblique to the corresponding pin path,

said chutes each being formed of resilient deformable rubber-like material with a resilient wall portion curved about said axis,

said curved chute wall portion having an internal surface portion disposed in intercepting relation across the path of advancing pins and adapted to be engaged by the end of an advancing pin and to deflect and guide the intercepted pin to a predetermined position in the deck structure;

the combination of impact elements wholly supported by and disposed internally of the chutes across the respective pin feed paths,

said impact elements each being transversely curved complementally to and disposed against said pin intercepting surface of the chute on which the element is supported,

each element constituting a partial liner for the chute on which it is supported and being adapted to intercept and deflect a received pin from its feed path toward the axis of the chute by which the element is supported,

each of said impact elements being thin and stiff rela tive to the wall of its supporting chute,

and each of said elements covering a minor portion only of the total area of the internal surface of the supporting chute wall but overlying and extending beyond the entire area of said portion of the chute wall which is in the path of advancing pins, whereby the energy of the impact of each intercepted pin is distributed to said absorbed by yielding of the resilient chute over an area greater than the impact area,

and retainer means fast to each impact element and receivable over the top edge of the chute on which the element is supported to locate and hold the element in predetermined position in the chute and against said internal surface portion thereof.

2. In a pin-handling machine as defined in claim 1, the impact elements each comprising a body portion of uniform thickness and the retainer means being a pair of spaced apart retainers each comprising a reversely bent strip of resilient material having spaced legs one of which is fast to the body portion and the other of which extends down the outside of the chute.

3. In a pin-handling machine as defined in claim 1, the impact elements each comprising a body portion of arcuately curved sheet metal having spaced side edges and,

extending between and intersecting the side edges,

a generally horizontal top edge,

and said retainer means being fast to the body portion of each element adjacent said top edge.

4. In a pin-handling machine as defined in claim 1. the retaining means comprising metal straps of inverted -sha-pe extending over the chute wall at the upper end of the chute.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 939,487 11/1909 Fish 24-259 1,798,711 3/1931 States 1932 1,981,099 11/1934 Fender 302-64 X 2,166,344 7/1939 Donohue 2425.9 2,184,569 12/1939 Steward 24259 2,462,543 2/1949 Palmer 273*42 2,973,204 2/1961 Huck et al. 27343 3,110,521 11/1963 Rogers et al. 302-64 3,172,662 3/1965 Boyle et al. 27342 DELBERT B. LOWE, Primary Examiner. C. B. PRICE, A. O. OECHSLE, Assislant Examiners. 

1. IN A PIN-HANDLING MACHINE OF THE TYPE HAVING A SUPPORTING FRAME, A GENERALLY HORIZONTAL DECK STRUCTURE CARRIED BY THE FRAME, THE FRAME BEING ADAPTED TO SUPPORT THE DECK STRUCTURE ABOVE THE REAR END OF A BOWLING ALLEY BED, A PLURALITY OF GENERALLY TUBULAR CHUTES HAVING OPEN TOP AND BOTTOM ENDS, SAID CHUTES BEING MOUNTED ON SAID DECK STRUCTURE, MEANS CARRIED BY THE SUPPORTING FRAME AND ADAPTED FEED PINS TO ADVANCE ENDWISE TO THE UPPER ENDS OF THE CHUTES ALONG PREDETERMINED SEPARATED PATHS, THE CHUTES BEING DISPOSED IN HORIZONTALLY SPACED RELATION TO ONE ANOTHER TO RECEIVE ADVANCING PINS INDIVIDUALLY AND EACH HAVING A GENERALLY UPRIGHT AXIS OBLIQUE TO THE CORRESPONDING PIN PATH, SAID CHUTES EACH BEING FORMED OF RESILIENT DEFORMABLE RUBBER-LIKE MATERIAL WITH A RESILIENT WALL PORTION CURVED ABOUT SAID AXIS, SAID CURVED CHUTE WALL PORTION HAVING AN INTERNAL SURFACE PORTION DISPOSED IN INTERCEPTING RELATION ACROSS THE PATH OF ADVANCING PINS AND ADAPTED TO BE ENGAGED BY THE END OF AN ADVANCING PIN AND TO DEFLECT AND GUIDE THE INTERCEPTED PIN TO A PREDETERMINED POSITION IN THE DECK STRUCTURE; THE COMBINATION OF IMPACT ELEMENTS WHOLLY SUPPORTED BY AND DISPOSED INTERNALLY OF THE CHUTES ACOSS THE RESPECTIVE PIN FEED PATHS, SAID IMPACT ELEMENTS EACH BEING TRANSVERSELY CURVES COMPLEMENTALLY TO AND DISPOSED AGAINST SAID PIN INTERCEPTING SURFACE OF THE CHUTE ON WHICH THE ELEMENT IS SUPPORTED, EACH ELEMENT CONSTITUTING A PARTIAL LINER FOR THE CHUTE ON WHICH IT IS SUPPORTED AND BEING ADAPTED TO INTERCEPT AND DEFLECT A RECEIVED PIN FROM ITS FEED PATH TOWARD THE AXIS OF THE CHUTE BY WHICH THE ELEMENT IS SUPPORTED, EACH OF SAID IMPACT ELEMENTS BEING THIN AND STIFF RELATIVE TO THE WALL OF ITS SUPORTING CHUTE, AND EACH OF SAID ELEMENTS COVERING A MINOR PORTION ONLY OF THE TOTAL AREA OF THE INTERNAL SURFACE OF THE SUPPORTING CHUTE WALL BUT OVERLYING AND EXTENDING BEYOND THE ENTIRE AREA OF SAID PORTION OF THE CHUTE WALL WHICH IS IN THE PATH OF ADVANCING PINS, WHEREBY THE ENERGY OF THE IMPACT OF EACH INTERCEPTED PIN IS DISTRIBUTED TO SAID ABSORBED BY YIELDING OF THE RESILIENT CHUTE OVER AREA GREATER THAN THE IMPACT AREA, AND RETAINER MEANS FAST TO EACH IMPACT ELEMENT AND RECEIVABLE OVER THE TOP EDGE OF THE CHUTE ON WHICH THE ELEMENT IS SUPPORTED TO LOCATE AND HOLD THE ELEMENT IN PREDETERMINED POSITION IN THE CHUTE AND AGAINST SAID INTERNAL SURFACE PORTION THEREOF. 